City tries to close down S. Bronx Community Center; Court Hearing Tomorrow

By imcista

There will be a rally in support of Casa del Sol community center 9 a.m. Thursday in front of the Bronx County Courthouse at 161st and Grand Concourse. The occupants of Casa del Sol, located at 136th and Cypress in the South Bronx, will be in court to fight the cityâ€™s bid to eject them. The city states that it wants to convert an â€œabandonedâ€ building into housing, although the building is already in use. Supporters of Casa del Sol say they will engage in non-violent civil disobedience if the court rules against them. Projects at Casa Del Sol currently include a Silkscreen Shop, Community Garden, an After School Program, the Adverse Possession Art Gallery and weekly concerts. Casa Del Sol also hosts an Annual Street Fair and Halloween Party, and houses the offices of the Cherry Tree Association and the Mutual Aid Project, which produces the New York City Free Events Calendar. The showdown over the future of Casa del Sol comes at a time when the city is also on the verge of bulldozing four community gardens in Melrose, another South Bronx neighborhood experiencing increased gentrification.

City tries to close down S. Bronx Community Center; Court Hearing Tomorrow

The plan to get rid of Casa Del Sol is only one part of a larger assault on community projects in the Bronx. Just a mile north of Casa in Melrose at least four community gardens are also on the chopping block and face eviction by HPD. If the City moves to close the building on Thursday, Casa Del Sol could become one of the first victims to the recent wave of real estate speculation in one of NYC's poorest neighborhoods. As people get displaced from their homes and community centers and community gardens get bulldozed, city owned abandoned property remains unused for years- until it becomes profitable enough to sell the sites to private developers. The Bronx needs affordable housing but there is no reason to evict any existing spaces to provide it. SHOWS TO BE HELD AT CASA DEL SOL ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT Friday, Nov 19th 7pm Downstairs The Jeffrey Lewis Band (witty, animated and true), Carter Tanton (loud distorted guitars and harmonic vocals) Synth/Sax from Clouds Crossing, South Bronx's own the Dream Bitches (relentless, fast and smart harmonies) Indie-Pop from the Besties, and Dylan and Aaron, two solo artists from California. 8pm Casa Del Sol will host the Buffalo Poetry Reading upstairs in the Adverse Possession art gallery. Free Beer for all poets. Saturday, Nov 20th 7pm a hardcore show featuring Hiretsukan, The Black Howler, So I had To Shoot Him, and Piss Death from NY, GFK from Canada, Unholy Slaughter from Maryland. Casa Del Sol is located on the corner of 136th St and Cypress Ave. Take the 6 train to Cypress Ave. The train lets out on 138th St between the Bruckner Expressway and Cypress Ave. Walk to Cypress and turn left. By bike or car from Manhattan take the Willis Ave Bridge (125th St & 1st Ave) to the Bronx, turn right on 138th St and right again on Cypress Ave. For more info please contact Casa Del Sol at casashows (at) gmail.com or call 1-718-292-6443 or leave a voicemail at 1-800-825-1713. Please Support us by coming to rally at 9pm outside Bronx Court House Thursday Nov. 18th. Take the 5 train to Yankee Stadium a nd walk two blocks to the courthouse. The Rally is at the Bronx Court House on Grand Concourse and 161st at 9pm. Anyone who attends will be able to get into either of the shows this weekend for free.

Re: City tries to close down S. Bronx Community Center; Court Hearing Tomorrow

Nov 18, 2004 03:01AM EST

anon.

Now I know I'm about to get screamed at, but I think it is worth pointing out that this is not a "city owned abandoned property remains unused for years- until it becomes profitable enough to sell the sites to private developers." While ACORN is by no means the best orginization around (among other things they have fought consistently against being unionized), but whether or not you like them they actually do provide low-income housing. It is also intresing to point out that the Executive Director for the New York chapter of ACORN, Bertha Lewis, is a former squatter and actually lived in Casa at one point. I think it's a little un-fair to not mention any of the complexities of this issue.

That being said, good luck tomarrow...

Re: City tries to close down S. Bronx Community Center; Court Hearing Tomorrow

Nov 18, 2004 03:12AM EST

CASA

The point is not whether or not ACORN is evil anyway. The point is that they have no right to the building. Why is a supposedly progressive organization fighting Casa Del Sol, among other things trying to prevent solar panels from being installed on the roof? Listen- There are plenty of other sites where housing which this neighborhood does need, no one is arguing that, can be built. If Acorn has good intentions towards this goal, it should leave Casa alone. Bertha Lewis is a former Squatter who has a personal feud with Bueno and is destroying a community center's chance at helping the neighborhood over it.

For more dirt on Acorn check the IWW site. Also the soon to be released Acorn sucks dot com.

Re: City tries to close down S. Bronx Community Center; Court Hearing Tomorrow

Nov 18, 2004 03:17AM EST

anon.

They may have a personal feud. I suppose my only point is that this was posted as a "news article," and should at least attempt to give a little information about the complexities of the situation.

Again, good luck, hope you win...

Re: City tries to close down S. Bronx Community Center; Court Hearing Tomorrow

Nov 18, 2004 06:43AM EST

maus.

there are lots and lots of empty buildings in this neighborhood that are perfectly suitable for conversion to housing, that are not in fact currently being converted into a community resource by a time of dedicated volunteers. there is no reason a personal vendetta between two wingnuts should be the end of this space.

Re: City tries to close down S. Bronx Community Center; Court Hearing Tomorrow

Nov 18, 2004 06:34PM EST

anonymous

It isn't 1975 anymore, and the neighborhood simply isn't full of empty buildings. City-owned empty buildings are virtually non-existent. And I think it is disingenuous at best to insinuate that ACORN's plan for the building is part of some gentrification scheme. An apartment building as big as Casa should provide homes for many people. Unfortunately, Rafael Bueno has chosen not to take that path, and has instead attempted to maintain the building as his personal fiefdom, in the process alienating virtually everyone in the community. That being said, I wish with all of my heart that some solution could be reached that would allow the building to remain autonomous, while moving to re-establish it as a vital community resource. Unfortunately, I think it may be too late.

Re: City tries to close down S. Bronx Community Center; Court Hearing Tomorrow

Nov 19, 2004 02:37AM EST

CasaDelSolidarity

As many of the comments here show, liberals nearly always go out of their way to sabotage the projects of the poor and marginalized. Fuck your ACORN bullshit, assholes. We're actually doing something productive instead of sitting around our $1k/month apartments whining on the internet.

We're not going to wait around for you to pretend to make things better for us with your failed elections and bureaucratic "reforms".

fucking ACORN

Nov 19, 2004 04:45AM EST

@

ACORn: typical of what the american labor movement and related organizatiosn stand for right now. pathetic and disgusting. is this what joe hill died for?

Re: City tries to close down S. Bronx Community Center; Court Hearing Tomorrow

Nov 19, 2004 02:22PM EST

maus.

It isn't 1975 anymore, and the neighborhood simply isn't full of empty buildings.

umm, have you been to the south bronx lately? and yes, casa has problems, but legal stability would go a long way towards helping it become a useful space.

Re: City tries to close down S. Bronx Community Center; Court Hearing Tomorrow

Nov 19, 2004 07:49PM EST

juice

I totally agree that Acorn should be shut out of the whole situation. The building is becoming a very viable source of both housing and a lively community center. We don't need ACORN.

Re: City tries to close down S. Bronx Community Center; Court Hearing Tomorrow

Nov 23, 2004 05:38PM EST

Che

for the people there now find out the details of what has been going on there before.. 80's, 90's, seek information instead of listening to one person... and as for honesty and working with others... it wasn't a "decisive" court date as fliers said and was misrepresented, it was just a time to file court papers... people lied to again ... crashing somewhere and doing fun stuff is great, but diatribes against the "liberals" is just ridiculous... DO SOME RESEARCH ABOUT HOW THE SITUATION GOT TO WHERE IT IS AND HOW THE PLACE IS STILL THERE and then maybe you all will be able to address the wingnuts and deal with it for many people's benefit... a personal feud had nothing to do with this, unless one person's feud with the entire world counts

Re: City tries to close down S. Bronx Community Center; Court Hearing Tomorrow

Feb 05, 2005 09:56AM EST

washington

Casa del Sol was and always will be an affront to the hypocracy of this well run city-state republic called America. I wish you all the best Rafael Bueno

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